What a year 2015 was! The strong athletes of Team USA dominated competition across the globe and on American soil. Young guns and veterans strengthening their already prodigious legacies, combined to make for one truly memorable year. Check out some of the top moments of U.S. Snowboarding’s highly successful year.
Chloe Kim competes during the final run of the women's snowboard superpipe at Winter X Games Aspen 2015 at Buttermilk Mountain on January 24, 2015, in Aspen, Colorado. Kim, 14, is the youngest gold medalist in X Games history. (Getty/Denver Post-Daniel Petty)
Chloe Kim takes gold at X Games
Chloe Kim (La Palma, CA) was 14 years old in January when she became the youngest athlete to win gold at an X Games winter event. Kim bested a heavy-hitting field of accomplished women, including five-time-defending gold medalist (and U.S. teammate) Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT).
Kelly Clark attends The 2015 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty/WireImage-Steve Granitz)
Kelly Clark wins second ESPY
Three-time Olympic medalist Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) won the ESPY for “Female Action Sports Athlete of the Year” in July. It was her second ESPY—the first one came 13 years previous when she beat out action sports legends Ricky Carmichael and Bob Burnquist (before the category was separated by gender).
Big Air named Olympic Sport for PeyongChang
In June the IOC announced that big air Snowboarding would make its Olympic debut at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Over 10,000 fans packed the stadium in Istanbul for the first-ever big air FIS World Cup. (FIS Snowboarding)
Ty Walker wins first women’s big air FIS World Cup
Pro Slopestyle team member Ty Walker (Stowe, VT) landed backside and frontside 720s to win the first-ever women’s big air FIS World Cup event. The win was Walker’s first on the World Cup tour and bodes well for her chances when the discipline makes its Olympic debut in 2018.
Chas Guldemond, Eric Willett and Eric Beauchemin Sweep the slopestyle finals 2015 Sprint Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City Mountain Resort. (USSA)
U.S. men sweep the U.S. Grand Prix/FIS World Cup Slopestyle
It was a red, white and blue sweep at the Park City stop of the U.S. Grand Prix/FIS World Cup where Eric Willet (Breckenridge, CO) scored the top of the slopestyle podium, followed by Chas Guldemond (Reno, NV) and Eric Beauchemin (Grand Blanc, MI) in second and third respectively.
Kelly Clark, shown here at the 2014 Winter X Games, locked down an historic eighth U.S. Open title in 2015. (Getty Images-Chris Council)
Kelly Clark wins 8th U.S. Open title, U.S. women sweep podium
Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT), the most dominant competitive snowboarder in the history of the sport, locked down an historic eighth U.S. Open title in 2015. She topped the field with a nearly perfect run 13 years after taking home her first U.S. Open win. Clark led an American podium sweep with Chloe Kim (La Palma, CA) and Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, CO) hot on her heels.
American Justin Reiter and third Roland Fischnaller of Italy stand on the podium after the parallel slalom at the World Cup in Moscow, Russia on March 7, 2015. (Getty/ Anadolu Agency-Sefa Karacan)
Justin Reiter takes first career World Cup title
Alpine snowboarder Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) took his first World Cup win in Moscow, Russia in March. Reiter defeated Austria’s Benjamin Karl by a whopping 10.66 seconds. It was the first win by an American at a parallel slalom World Cup event in over 11 years.
With a fist pump, Lindsey Jacobellis celebrates her victory at the FIS Snowboard World Championships snowboardcross on January 16, 2015 in Kreischberg, Austria. (Getty/Agence Zoom-Stanko Gruden)
Lindsay Jacobellis wins fourth World Championship
Lindsay Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) is the most dominant snowboardcross athlete to ever compete in the sport, and she furthered her legacy in 2015 with her fourth World Championship title. The win came in Kreischberg, Austria and it was her fourth World Championship in as many tries—100 percent is a pretty dang good percentage.
At 14 years of age, Hailey Langland earned her first major win in 2015 - the U.S. Grand Prix event in Mammoth Lakes, CA. (USSA)
Hailey Langland earns first major win at U.S. Grand Prix Mammoth
Slopestyle athlete Hailey Langland (San Clemente, CA) is on the come up, and she’s coming up fast. At 14 years of age she earned her first major win in 2015—the U.S. Grand Prix event in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Langland beat seasoned veterans Anna Gasser of Austria and Enni Rukajarvi of Finland, who joined her on the podium.
Now that 2016 has begun, we're stoked to see who else stands on the podiums and breaks records all season long. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat (us.snowboarding) for updates!
